This week, a suburban Washington, D.C.-area mom packed up her three daughters’ Abercrombie & Fitch clothes and returned them to the firm’s chief executive, Mike Jeffries, with a note explaining that she wouldn’t be letting her kids shop at his stores anymore.

Why was she so ticked off?

Last week, Business Insider reported that Abercrombie refuses to make large-sized clothing. Retail analyst Robin Lewis told the website that Jeffries wants “thin and beautiful” people shopping in his store. "He doesn't want his core customers to see people who aren't as hot as them wearing his clothing,” Lewis told the website.

The Business Insider story also made note of a seven-year-old profile of Jeffries that ran in Salon. In that piece, Jeffries was upfront about Abercrombie’s obnoxious marketing scheme. Gotta give the man credit for confirming what every mother of a teenager could tell you:

Jeffries is quoted as saying: “ ‘In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.’”

That might have been true back in 2006, but it’s not anymore.

“Fast fashion” retailers H&M and Forever 21 do a pretty good job of exciting fashion customers of all ages and sizes. And -- no big surprise -- they’ve been stealing market share from the floundering Abercrombie & Fitch.

From a fashion standpoint, Abercrombie is a fairly lame label. I say this, having spent some time covering fashion, including the shows each season in New York, Paris, Milan and London.

My time on the beat coincided with the rise of the supermodels, the licensing craze that put the adjective “designer” in front of products from jeans to sheets, and the ascendance of unfussy but truly stylish American ready-to-wear thanks to fashion visionaries like Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein.

Abercrombie & Fitch came into its current incarnation around the same time. Though it sounds vaguely English, it’s a reinvented hunting and fishing outfitter, based in Ohio. It’s not what you would call a design house, really; it’s a retailer of relatively boring, overpriced clothes tarted up for teens.

The company seems always to be in the middle of some scandal or controversy: Its catalog photos are too suggestive, it’s selling thong underwear to pre-teens, a class action lawsuit claiming it forces less attractive and/or minority employees to work behind the scenes rather than on the floor.

So while there is nothing particularly original going on style-wise at Abercrombie, there is a certain genius for stoking the anxiety of youngsters who want to be considered cool by their peers.

Tellingly, it’s an anxiety that CEO Jeffries, now in his late 60s, never outgrew. As Salon put it:

“[Jeffries] wants desperately to look like his target customer (the casually flawless college kid), and in that pursuit he has aggressively transformed himself from a classically handsome man into a cartoonish physical specimen: dyed hair, perfectly white teeth, golden tan, bulging biceps, wrinkle-free face, and big, Angelina Jolie lips.”

Ugly people always bitch about being ugly. Just accept that youre ugly and will be mistreated most of the time.. and move on with your life.

The world doesnt owe you anything

This has nothing to do with being owed anything. It's about having respect for the general public. Since most people are fat and/or ugly, he insulted half of general buying public. BTW, just because you are skinny or in shape doesn't mean you look good. I've seen many ugly skinny gals.

And shitt, so be it. The big uglies are already being catered to by Lane Bryant and other retailers.

Logged

"Respected in an industry full of drug addicts, perverts, and homos? No thanks. The name is Anus, by the way. Wild Anus."

It's a good strategy. So he might lose some customers, it's a massive market out there you make a plan and stick with it. You can try and please everybody but that creates problems too. They have a great business model.

It's a good strategy. So he might lose some customers, it's a massive market out there you make a plan and stick with it. You can try and please everybody but that creates problems too. They have a great business model.

It worked really well for a while. But over the last five years, sales have really started to go downhill. Those clothes just aren't cool anymore.

I worked there for a summer when I was 19. After 2 months I stopped showing up because I was going to pull my hair out from the stupidity of my coworkers. Plus I don't think any retailer has a higher turnover than them. It's easy to hire good looking white kids, but not so easy to keep anyone worthwhile there.

It worked really well for a while. But over the last five years, sales have really started to go downhill. Those clothes just aren't cool anymore.

I worked there for a summer when I was 19. After 2 months I stopped showing up because I was going to pull my hair out from the stupidity of my coworkers. Plus I don't think any retailer has a higher turnover than them. It's easy to hire good looking white kids, but not so easy to keep anyone worthwhile there.

Are you suggesting good looking people are stupid and have no personality?

looking at his pics.....staying young looking is important but dont force it...mother fucker looks bad.... same thing with a 45 yr gal dressing up like a college chic. he is a product of his environment though....

Ya know, it's things like this that remind me that Americans are always trying blame others for their short comings, and if no one is there to blame, they take it outbin people who are "insensitive" to their short comings. While in college, I had a dude in a wheel chair run his foot step into ly ankle. I apologized for being in his way and went on about my business. He did it again. As I was trying to apologize, he said "Get the fuck out of my way". I politelttold him, that is he insist on runninv into me, I would graciously roll his ass onto the 101. He did that whole I'm in a wheel chair thing and started crying. The sympathy strings were pulled and I was treated like The King Slayer for a week. But, he never ran into anyone else. Point being, he has no control over the cards he was dealt, but that does not mean he can act like an asshole. This so called fat, ugly, uncool people making a stink about this do have control. Fat? Go on a diet and have the will power to keep itnoff (biggest loser). Ugly? Get plastic surgery. Hell, the muscle week approved Lady Boy looks damn good minus the middle. Uncool? Fuck cool. Do your thing and be happy with who you are. I'm half black and Dominican. I am a cross between a reparation seeking, day labor farming, lazy gay dancer who can't play baseball (which makes most Dominicans shun me) and has a formal college education (which most black people hate me for). Yet, I manage to live and livewell according my own terms. Looks like these insecure fat bodies need a little tune up in this thing called the world because iit's no secret that when you're pretty and fit, the sky's the limit. When you're fat and ugly, the limit's the sky.

I'm one of the youngest on here, but even in my short lifetime it's funny the different trends I have seen. I remember when JNCO Jeans were the shit, and all the cool kids wore them. I would scramble down to the cruise ship docks selling garnets to tourists, after smearing dirt on my face and putting on ratty clothes. Then after the Princess Cruise ship left I'd count what I had pocketed and shriek with glee that I could now buy a pair of cool Jnco Jeans, and the latest MXPX CD or whatever bullshit I was listening to. I remember that those hideous orange pants wore by Christina Agueillera in the 'Jeanie' video were wore by all the cool kids for awhile too. Abercrombie has always been a douchebag brand so I don't know why people are so surprised by this bullshit. Now what I think is 'cool' is totally irrelevant to clothing. The 'coolest' guy I know is 50 something years old and resembles a radical hobo riding the freight trains of America during the 1930's. He's cool because he doesn't compromise with people and has a strong sense of integrity, not scared to adhere to his beliefs. Recently the power-plant that he (was) an engineer at started engaging in some highly sketchy shit with the boss saying "We need to operate at 100%, push productivity, etc.". They have a big meeting and the boss says "Any questions?" He says "No, but I have a comment" and recites this 6 page-long lyrical poem comparing the place to the village in Gulliver's travels, and pointing out how fucked up it is and how someone is going to die because they are laboring under un-safe conditions. As he's reciting his epic lyrical poem, in a cruel twist of irony a man lost his arm a few hundred feet away in the plant. The room was tense, they were pissed. They wanted to fire him, he got whistleblowers protection, and now is going to essentially fuck them over pretty hard with an expose. Just a plain out cool motherfucker, and fearless. He was also arrested before for reciting the names of dead veterans to now deceased douche bag Ted Stevens in his office LOL. Now to me- that's fucking 'cool'. He's also the smartest person I've ever met.

Logged

“There has always been, and there is now, a profound conflict of interest between the people and the government of the United States.” ― Howard Zinn

I'm one of the youngest on here, but even in my short lifetime it's funny the different trends I have seen. I remember when JNCO Jeans were the shit, and all the cool kids wore them. I would scramble down to the cruise ship docks selling garnets to tourists, after smearing dirt on my face and putting on ratty clothes. Then after the Princess Cruise ship left I'd count what I had pocketed and shriek with glee that I could now buy a pair of cool Jnco Jeans, and the latest MXPX CD or whatever bullshit I was listening to. I remember that those hideous orange pants wore by Christina Agueillera in the 'Jeanie' video were wore by all the cool kids for awhile too. Abercrombie has always been a douchebag brand so I don't know why people are so surprised by this bullshit. Now what I think is 'cool' is totally irrelevant to clothing. The 'coolest' guy I know is 50 something years old and resembles a radical hobo riding the freight trains of America during the 1930's. He's cool because he doesn't compromise with people and has a strong sense of integrity, not scared to adhere to his beliefs. Recently the power-plant that he (was) an engineer at started engaging in some highly sketchy shit with the boss saying "We need to operate at 100%, push productivity, etc.". They have a big meeting and the boss says "Any questions?" He says "No, but I have a comment" and recites this 6 page-long lyrical poem comparing the place to the village in Gulliver's travels, and pointing out how fucked up it is and how someone is going to die because they are laboring under un-safe conditions. As he's reciting his epic lyrical poem, in a cruel twist of irony a man lost his arm a few hundred feet away in the plant. The room was tense, they were pissed. They wanted to fire him, he got whistleblowers protection, and now is going to essentially fuck them over pretty hard with an expose. Just a plain out cool motherfucker, and fearless. He was also arrested before for reciting the names of dead veterans to now deceased douche bag Ted Stevens in his office LOL. Now to me- that's fucking 'cool'. He's also the smartest person I've ever met.

2 things.....

1) Paragraphs, please!

2) Are you fucking high right now?

Logged

"My mother was a whore in Bangkok that met my Dad while he was trying to fuck underage chicks. My mom was already 16 at the time but she could pass for a 12 year old." - Tbecks

I'm one of the youngest on here, but even in my short lifetime it's funny the different trends I have seen. I remember when JNCO Jeans were the shit, and all the cool kids wore them. I would scramble down to the cruise ship docks selling garnets to tourists, after smearing dirt on my face and putting on ratty clothes. Then after the Princess Cruise ship left I'd count what I had pocketed and shriek with glee that I could now buy a pair of cool Jnco Jeans, and the latest MXPX CD or whatever bullshit I was listening to. I remember that those hideous orange pants wore by Christina Agueillera in the 'Jeanie' video were wore by all the cool kids for awhile too. Abercrombie has always been a douchebag brand so I don't know why people are so surprised by this bullshit. Now what I think is 'cool' is totally irrelevant to clothing. The 'coolest' guy I know is 50 something years old and resembles a radical hobo riding the freight trains of America during the 1930's. He's cool because he doesn't compromise with people and has a strong sense of integrity, not scared to adhere to his beliefs. Recently the power-plant that he (was) an engineer at started engaging in some highly sketchy shit with the boss saying "We need to operate at 100%, push productivity, etc.". They have a big meeting and the boss says "Any questions?" He says "No, but I have a comment" and recites this 6 page-long lyrical poem comparing the place to the village in Gulliver's travels, and pointing out how fucked up it is and how someone is going to die because they are laboring under un-safe conditions. As he's reciting his epic lyrical poem, in a cruel twist of irony a man lost his arm a few hundred feet away in the plant. The room was tense, they were pissed. They wanted to fire him, he got whistleblowers protection, and now is going to essentially fuck them over pretty hard with an expose. Just a plain out cool motherfucker, and fearless. He was also arrested before for reciting the names of dead veterans to now deceased douche bag Ted Stevens in his office LOL. Now to me- that's fucking 'cool'. He's also the smartest person I've ever met.

2) No, i'm riding 'the sobriety train'. Maybe will someday reveal my brutal fall from grace, fully induced by drugs, alcohol and the twelve dreams of dr. sardonicus by spirit. Well there's been several... The last one was enough to not get high ever again. Let's put it that way.

Logged

“There has always been, and there is now, a profound conflict of interest between the people and the government of the United States.” ― Howard Zinn

Abercrombie & Fitch Chief Executive Michael S. Jeffries has finally addressed criticism regarding controversial comments he made during a 2006 interview that has resurfaced and gone viral over the last week.

The clothing retailer has avoided commenting on the issue. But anger continues to mount online against Jeffries and Abercrombie, particularly its strategy of not making women’s clothing in any size above large.

In a statement issued Thursday, Jeffries falls short of an apology, instead saying he regrets that his “choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense.”

At issue is an interview that Jeffries, 68, had with Salon magazine in 2006 in which he described Abercrombie’s target market.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” Jeffries said in the article. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Since the interview resurfaced, a petition popped up on Change.org last week to pressure the company to change that policy. Then, a Huffington Post blogger posted an open letter to Jeffries. A YouTube video appeared this week in which a man distributed the company’s clothes to homeless people on Los Angeles' skid row to change the brand's image.

In his statement, Jeffries said his “7-year-old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context,” but he reemphasized that Abercrombie “targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers.”

He added: “We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics."

Abercrombie & Fitch Chief Executive Michael S. Jeffries has finally addressed criticism regarding controversial comments he made during a 2006 interview that has resurfaced and gone viral over the last week.

The clothing retailer has avoided commenting on the issue. But anger continues to mount online against Jeffries and Abercrombie, particularly its strategy of not making women’s clothing in any size above large.

In a statement issued Thursday, Jeffries falls short of an apology, instead saying he regrets that his “choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense.”

At issue is an interview that Jeffries, 68, had with Salon magazine in 2006 in which he described Abercrombie’s target market.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” Jeffries said in the article. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Since the interview resurfaced, a petition popped up on Change.org last week to pressure the company to change that policy. Then, a Huffington Post blogger posted an open letter to Jeffries. A YouTube video appeared this week in which a man distributed the company’s clothes to homeless people on Los Angeles' skid row to change the brand's image.

In his statement, Jeffries said his “7-year-old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context,” but he reemphasized that Abercrombie “targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers.”

He added: “We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics."

Ha. Of course it's easy to shit on everyone when you're doing really well. Funny how now that A&F isn't nearly as "cool" as it once was he slowly starts to back peddle. My mother taught me this lesson when I was like 6. Fuck people and their egos.

Actually, his stock went up since this broke last week. There's always a rich white kid and a couple desprately 'accept me as one of your own' black kids who would drop the coin on his threads. Personally, I stick to the runner's section at Dick's Sporting Goods and American Eagle when I gotta get semi-clean for a pretty young thing.... yeah, I said it....

Actually, his stock went up since this broke last week. There's always a rich white kid and a couple desprately 'accept me as one of your own' black kids who would drop the coin on his threads. Personally, I stick to the runner's section at Dick's Sporting Goods and American Eagle when I gotta get semi-clean for a pretty young thing.... yeah, I said it....

This got me thinking about where we shop. As I look at my closet, I realize that most of my clothes come from Eddie Bauer. I started going there about 6 years ago. I usually only buy things that migrate to the sale rack of 20-60% off. One of the clerks got so used to seeing me that he began to give me sale prices on items that weren't on sale yet. Soon thereafter I received an Eddie Bauer Friends card in the mail. Presenting this card gave me dollar points good for future purchases. I shopped there so much I was upgraded to a Gold Friends card. I asked the clerks if I am their most frequent shopper and they said yes. There are others who shop there and stay in the store longer but I am their most frequent customer.

My suits tend to come from Men's Warehouse or Macy's. I do not have one article of clothing from A & F.

This got me thinking about where we shop. As I look at my closet, I realize that most of my clothes come from Eddie Bauer. I started going there about 6 years ago. I usually only buy things that migrate to the sale rack of 20-60% off. One of the clerks got so used to seeing me that he began to give me sale prices on items that weren't on sale yet. Soon thereafter I received an Eddie Bauer Friends card in the mail. Presenting this card gave me dollar points good for future purchases. I shopped there so much I was upgraded to a Gold Friends card. I asked the clerks if I am their most frequent shopper and they said yes. There are others who shop there and stay in the store longer but I am their most frequent customer.

My suits tend to come from Men's Warehouse or Macy's. I do not have one article of clothing from A & F.